Der New Yorker über Trumps Wahlsieg

David Remnick hat im New Yorker eine deftige Abrechnung zum Wahlsieg Donald Trumps, der Rolle der Medien, dem Einfluss algorithmischer Nachrichtenvorauswahl und dem Effekt von Filterblasen veröffentlicht. Hier folgt eine Watsche der anderen.

The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic […] and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism. Trump’s shocking victory, his ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy. […] Trump is vulgarity unbounded, a knowledge-free national leader who will not only set markets tumbling but will strike fear into the hearts of the vulnerable, the weak, and, above all, the many varieties of Other whom he has so deeply insulted. The African-American Other. The Hispanic Other. The female Other. The Jewish and Muslim Other.

Full Stop. Übergang in den Medienalltag. Und der Hinweis auf die gefährlichste aller bevorstehenden Argumentationen, nämlich eine, die sich auf schwammige Aussagen und vom Himmel geholte Werte bezieht.

In the coming days, commentators will attempt to normalize this event. They will try to soothe their readers and viewers with thoughts about the “innate wisdom” and “essential decency” of the American people. They will downplay the virulence of the nationalism displayed, the cruel decision to elevate a man who rides in a gold-plated airliner but who has staked his claim with the populist rhetoric of blood and soil. George Orwell, the most fearless of commentators, was right to point out that public opinion is no more innately wise than humans are innately kind. People can behave foolishly, recklessly, self-destructively in the aggregate just as they can individually. Sometimes all they require is a leader of cunning, a demagogue who reads the waves of resentment and rides them to a popular victory.

Leider erst am Ende des Artikels folgt der Verweis auf die Vorauswahl der Nachrichtenquellen in unseren Informationskanälen. Wir suchen auf Facebook und Google, wo das Suchergebnis selbst darstellt, was wir erwartet hätten, nach divergierenden Meinungen, und abonnieren die Nachrichten von Personen, die uns Twitter näher bringt. Es ist ein Jammer!

Diese Vorauswahl in unseren Filterblasen war nicht nur für die nunmehr vergangene US-Wahl oder den Brexit entscheidend, sie wird es auch für die bevorstehende Wahl in Österreich sein. Die Algorithmen von Facebook, Twitter und Google bilden die Spurrinnen, in dem unser Denken erfolgt.

Too often, we tried to diminish the racism and resentment that bubbled under the cyber-surface. But the information loop had been shattered. On Facebook, articles in the traditional, fact-based press look the same as articles from the conspiratorial alt-right media. Spokesmen for the unspeakable now have access to huge audiences. This was the cauldron, with so much misogynistic language, that helped to demean and destroy Clinton. The alt-right press was the purveyor of constant lies, propaganda, and conspiracy theories that Trump used as the oxygen of his campaign.

Schöne, neue Welt!